The thirtieth anniversary conference of the ADIT Association took place in the hospitable Arkhangelsk region with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Arkhangelsk Region . The Arkhangelsk Museum of Local History served as the conference's main coordinator , and the Kargopol Museum of History, Architecture, and Art hosted the traditional ADIT Northern design workshops . 

The conference was held with the support of ICOM Russia and the active participation of members of the ICOM Council for Digital Development of Museums.

The conference's overarching theme was information technology and digital products in museums, with a particular emphasis on legal and ethical issues. In Arkhangelsk, particular emphasis was placed on the work of children's museum centers, facilitated by the opening of the "Subject Laboratory" children's center at the Arkhangelsk Museum of Local History in May 2026. 

Pulse of the North. Museum Communication Technologies for the Northwest. Children's Museum Centers. ADIT Project Workshops.

Twenty-seven workshop participants from Moscow, the Arkhangelsk and Kaliningrad regions, Tomsk, and the Krasnoyarsk Territory worked for two days under the guidance of Olga Valentinovna Sinitsyna, along with a group of six experts: Natalia Tolstaya, Maria Pravdina, Alexander Artamonov, Oksana Turskaya, Ksenia Zubakina, and Yuli Veretnova. In the business game "Imaginary Museums, Objects, and Audiences," the workshop participants analyzed 11 case studies, and during a sound design masterclass, they created four prototypes of museum audio guides. Following the workshop, the participants developed six project proposals for the development of children's museum centers. We are very grateful to our colleagues in Kargopol for their exemplary welcome and care! 

The detailed program of the workshops is here , and the final presentation is here (in Russian).

Audio guides from the "School of Schools" project

Work on this project began in advance, and four audio guides developed in Arkhangelsk, Kargopol, and Solvychegodsk were presented at the conference:

• "Solvychegodsk. Beginning. Stroganovs" from the Solvychegodsk  Museum-Reserve ;
• "Kargopol boasts: young guides show off the city" from the Kargopol  Museum ;
• "To the Last Century and Back. A Walk Without a Time Machine" from the Arkhangelsk  Museum of Local History ;
• "Life in Five Paintings: A Journey Through Time" from the Museum Association  "Artistic Culture of the Russian North" .

Project coordinators from ADIT - Tatyana Nikolaeva, from tmatic.travel (ex. izi.TRAVEL) - Oksana Turskaya.

Conference

Over 300 participants from 40 (!) regions of the Russian Federation joined the conference, both in person and online. As the number of participants was significantly higher than in previous years, the Arkhangelsk Region Government Hall was provided for the plenary sessions. Breakout sessions were held in the "Exchange Hall" and the Museum of Nature of the Arkhangelsk Museum of Local History. The plenary session was moderated by ADIT President Nadezhda Petrova , Deputy Director General of the Leo Tolstoy State Museum. Anna Fofanova, Deputy Minister and Head of the Department of Culture and Arts of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Arkhangelsk Region, addressed the conference participants with a welcoming speech. Participants honored the memory of Tatyana Fialkova , co-founder of Intmedia, a long-standing partner and active participant in ADIT conferences. Oksana Oracheva, General Director of the Vladimir Potanin Charitable Foundation, delivered an analytical report . The results of the ADIT and School of Schools Project Workshops were presented at the plenary session.

The second and third days of the conference proceeded according to the planned program: click here  (in Russian).

Off-site meetings

The program of the off-site meetings on June 12, 2026, included trips to the city of Severodvinsk, the village of Nyonoksa, the village of Lomonosovo (Kholmogory), the Holy Trinity Antonievo-Siysky Monastery, and Kargopol. More information about the off-site meetings can be found on this page .  

Annual General Meeting of the ADIT Association

On June 10, 2026, the annual ADIT Association Members' Meeting was held in a mixed format (online and in-person). At the General Meeting:

• The financial report of ADIT was heard, accepted and approved;
• A decision was made to increase the annual membership fee for ADIT individual members to 1,500 rubles from January 1, 2027;
• The chief curator of the Samara Regional Museum of History and Local Lore, Anna Ratner, was elected as the auditor of the ADIT Association;
• Membership election procedure of the Association was done;
• The initiative proposal of ADIT Presidium member A.V. Mikhailova on the development of a project on the history of digitalization of the museum sphere on the basis of the NGO  “Ideas for Museums” was taken into account; 

Video recordings of reports and messages

• VK Video  (playlist, in Russian)
• Youtube ADIT  (playlist, in Russian).

Unfortunately, due to a technical failure, some of the sectional sessions were not recorded.

Acknowledgments

We are sincerely grateful and appreciative to everyone who contributed their time and money to organizing and hosting the ADIT-2026 conference!

Conference partners

• KAMIS Company , St. Petersburg
• INFOTECH Company , St. Petersburg
• tmatic.Travel (ex izi.TRAVEL)
• Auvix Company
• G-Group Company
• Company VIZHU
• Intmedia Company
• Polimedia Company
• Vinci Company
• TechnoGid Company
• Severstal Company
• Metaforma Museum Scenography Bureau
• Poliservice Company
• Travel company "Wind of Change"

Partner museums

• Kargopol Historical, Architectural and Art Museum , Kargopol
• Museum Association "Artistic Culture of the Russian North" , Arkhangelsk
• Northern Maritime Museum , Arkhangelsk
• Museum-Reserve "Malye Korely" , Arkhangelsk
• Historical and Memorial Museum of M.V. Lomonosov , Lomonosovo village, Kholmogorsky district, Arkhangelsk region
• Severodvinsk City Museum of Local History , Severodvinsk

Partner organizations

• Russian Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM Russia)
• Center for Cultural Initiatives "White Tower", Arkhangelsk
• ANO "Laboratory of Cultural Practices", Moscow
• Museum Communications Project , Moscow
• Charitable Foundation "Kindness of the North"
• The Museums of the Russian North program of the Dobrota Severa Charitable Foundation